Private investigator accused of giving Colorado inmate drugs; sheriff's captain says "We have learned a lesson"

A Northern Colorado law firm employee is facing potential time behind bars after investigators say she snuck drugs into a county jail on multiple occasions. Investigators have accused Laura Tellers, 52, of sneaking drugs, including fentanyl, into the Weld County Jail and providing them to at least one client that her employer represented. The inmate in question is currently being held under murder charges.

Capt. Matt Turner with the Weld County Sheriff's Office said deputies and drug task force investigators started their investigation after an increase of drug activity and overdoses in the facility.

"We had been interacting with some very strange drug problems in the jail, stuff we hadn't seen before," Turner said. "We began working with the drug task force when we learned an investigator for an attorney's firm might have been bringing drugs into our facility."

An investigation led deputies to believe Tellers was bringing the illegal drugs into the jail during visits with clients represented by the law firm she worked for. Turner said preventing drugs from entering facilities is always a challenge, and said he wasn't completely shocked to learn that drugs might have been brought in by someone who was trusted.

"I hate to say we weren't surprised by that. I say that because many jails across Colorado are interacting with the same problem we are," Turner said.

Turner explained most security screenings at the Weld County jail are focused on the inmates themselves. He said the jail had a more lenient screening process for professional staff that need to access their clients.

"We have many security features in the jail, but we are extremely trusting with our professional visitors that come into the jail every day to see the inmates. And we have learned a lesson there," Turner said. "The real work we have ahead of us is what do we do next? How do we stop this problem from happening further?"

Turner said the jail is looking into what actions it's going to take to try and prevent drugs from coming into the jail in a similar fashion, but said the jail needs to see the finalized investigation before making any final decisions.

He also said the jail is in the process of getting tablets for the inmates, which will eliminate their access to mail from the general population -- a popular way of sneaking drugs into the jail.

Instead of gaining access to the letter or envelopes that were sent, which sometimes have drugs hidden in them, now all mail will be scanned. The scanned documents will then be uploaded to the individual's tablet. When the inmate is released from jail, they will be given access to all of the physical letters they were sent.

Turner said the sheriff's office is cooperating with all investigators and is prepared to do what it takes to make sure those who have possibly provided drugs to inmates are held accountable.

"We are taking this very seriously," Turner said. "Anyone who is involved in this will be prosecuted criminally."